Roosevelt's 31 radio fireside chats are gathered together, with a general introduction that discusses the importance of Roosevelt in American political history, the rise of the radio as a political tool, and the way the president--aided by speech writers and advisers--prepared and delivered the chats. Issues of the day are explored in two additional introductory essays. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Reproduction of the original: The Fireside Chats by Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Fireside Chats is the term used to describe a series of 30 evening radio conversations (chats) given by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944. Roosevelt spoke with familiarity to millions of Americans about the promulgation of the Emergency Banking Act in response to the banking crisis, the recession, New Deal initiatives, and the course of World War II. On radio, he was able to quell rumors and explain his policies. His tone and demeanor communicated self-assurance during times of despair and uncertainty. Roosevelt was a great communicator on radio, and the fireside chats kept him in high public regard throughout his presidency. The series of fireside chats was among the first 50 recordings made part of the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, which noted it as "an influential series of radio broadcasts in which Roosevelt utilized the media to present his programs and ideas directly to the public and thereby redefined the relationship between President Roosevelt and the American people in 1933."

Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Fireside Chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt" (Radio Addresses to the American People Broadcast Between 1933 and 1944) by Franklin D. Roosevelt. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

On thirty-one occasions during his presidency, FranKlin Delano Roosevelt went on the radio to talk things over with the people of the United States. Those fireside chats, characterized by a disarming frankness and an informal and conversational tone, represent an unprecedented presidential attempt to achieve intimacy with the nation. The American people listened, gathered around their radios in living rooms and kitchens across the country, as President Roosevelt discussed virtually every major problem facing the United States at home and abroad--including both the gravest domestic struggle since the Civil War and perhaps the most serious foreign crisis in the nation's history. In the fireside chats the president touched upon all of the issues surrounding the depression and the New Deal, and upon the events, fears, and hopes that were part of the American experience of World War I. Editors Russell D. Buhite and David W. Levy have gathered the fireside chats together for the first time in a single volume and, by careful attention to recordings and stenographic reports, present the speeches exactly as Roosevelt spoke them. A general introduction discusses the importance of Roosevelt in American political history, the rise of the radio as a political tool, and the way Roosevelt, aided by speech writers and advisers, prepared and delivered the chats. Issues of the day are explored in two additional introductory essays--one describing the domestic situation Roosevelt confronted as he entered the White House in March 1933; the other surveying the international scene during the late 1930s, when Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese militarists propelled the world toward a catastrophic war. To read the fireside chats a half century after they were delivered is to reenter a world of economic disaster, social reform, and international danger. It is also to hear, once again, the voice of one of the most skilled speakers and trusted leaders in American history.

Selected letters originally published in The people and the president, c2002 by Beacon Press.